Musical key and transposition guide



(No Model 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. B. F. SHOWALTER.

MUSICAL KEY AND TRANSPOSIT'ION GUIDE;

No. 490509. "Patented Jan. 24,1893. 4

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(No Model.)

I 2 Sh eets-Sheet 2. J. B. F. SHOWALTER. MUSICAL KEY AND TRANSPOSITIONGUIDE. No. 490,509. Patented Jan. 24, 1893.

MAJOR WITNESSES lw VENTOR 7.25: P ,swwazwn 2 Mg ATTORNEYS UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

J. BENJAMIN F. SHOWALTER, OF VALPARAISO, INDIANA.

MUSICAL KEY AND TRANSPOSITION GUIDE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 490,509, dated January24, 1893.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J. BENJAMIN F. SHO- W'ALTER, of Valparaiso, in thecounty of Porter and State of Indiana, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Musical Key and Transposition Guides, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in musical key and transposition guidesand has for an object to provide a simple novel means whereby there maybe instantlyand accurately determined, the signature of any given key,the notes sharped or flatted in said key, the designation of the majorand relative minor key and the accidental incidentto the relative minor.

The invention consists in the novel features of construction and thecombinations of parts as will be'hereinafter described and pointed outin the claims.

In the drawingsFigures l and 2 are face views of the guide showingrespectively the flat and sharp keys. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectionthrough the shaft or axis of the guide and Fig. 4 is a detail view of apart of the signature section.

In carrying out my invention Iprovide sections A, B and O which forconvenience of reference I term respectively the signature section, theindicator or pointer section, and the minor accidental section. Thesections A and O are fixed With respect to each other and are movablerelatively to the section B, and the several sections A B and O arepreferably circular and concentric as shown. The

. signature section is made larger than the indicator section and thelatter larger than the accidental section so that a portion of the faceof the indicator section is exposed between the accidental and signaturesections and a portion of the signature section is exposed outside ofthe indicator section as clearly shown in the drawings. The indicatorsection is supported by uprights or standards D from the base E, andfurnishes a bearing for the shaft F which supports the signature andaccidental sections. On the signature section are formed live circularlines constituting a musical staff which is divided into key sections Gwhich sections G are sub-divided and contain in one sub-division thesignatures of the treble and tenor clefs and in the other Applicationfiled June 8, 1892. Serial No. 436,026. (No model.)

that of the bass clef of the particular key. Below the section G is aspace H containing at one end at h the designation of the major keyWhose signature is shown in the section G above, and in the opposite endof the space H is shown at h the designation of the relative minor key,While between said designations it h are presented at h2 the notessharped or fiatted in the particular key. In will be understood that onone side the guide presents the natural and the succeeding sharp keyswhile its opposite side presents the natural and succeeding fiat keys.

In the sub-divisions G are represented an open note do on the major keyor tonic space do, and a closed or black note la on the minor key notespace.

The accidental section 0 is fixed to and moves with the section A and isprovided with designations of the notes sharped, fiatted or naturaled inthe relative minor keys and such designations are fixed relative totheir corresponding keys on the signature section. This accidentalsection is inscribed with the words Accidentals in relative minor keys.On the indicator section are provided pointers or indicator sections 1,2 and 3 the first pointing to the major key designation and the secondto the minor key designation on the signature section and the third tothe accidental incident to said key and represented on the accidentalsection, the first indicator being inscribed Maj or key the second Minorkey and the third Accidentals.

On each indicator section are inscribed the words Major key note is(white) do and Minor key note is (black) la these referring to therepresentations of do and la on the signature section as beforedescribed. One of the indicator sections is inscribed Transposition byflats and the other Transposition by sharps corresponding to the keysrepresented on the signature section.

Manifestly the guides maybe made of wood, card board, sheet metal orother suitable material and may be made of any suitable size.

key its sharped or flatted notes and its relative minor, and minoraccidentals as well as the location of the do of such major and minorkeys will be appreciated by teachers and musicians generally.

It will be seen that the minor accidentals presented on the accidentalsection are those of the harmonic minor but it will be understood thatthose of the melodic minor maybe produced if desired.

In order to stop the signature section in accurate registerwith thepointer section I provide what may be termed a detent I formed of aspring bar or rod secured to the pointer section and arranged to engagein notches i in the signature section the said spring being arranged toadjust out of said notches when the signature section is forciblyturned.

Having thus described my invention, what Iclaim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A musical key and transposition guide comprising a signature section,a minor accidental section, and a pointer or indicator section, the saidsections being relatively movable and fixed substantially as set forth.

2. A musical key and transposition guide comprising a signature section,a minor accidental section, and a pointer or indicator section arrangedbetween the signature and accidental sections substantially as setforth.

3. A musical key and transposition guide comprising a signature section,and a minor accidental section fixed with relation to each other, and anindicator or pointer section concentric with the signature andminoraccidental sections, substantially as set forth.

4. A musical key and transposition guide provided with relatively fixedand movable sections and having representations of the signatures of theseveral major and minor keys and the designations thereof and alsohaving inscribed the several accidentals of the different minor keys andindicating means whereby to couple or connect the said accidentals withthe designations of their respective minor keys substantially as and forthe purposes set forth.

5. In a musicalkey and transposition guide a signature section inscribedon one side with the signatures of the several sharp keys and upon itsopposite side with the signatures of the several flat keys, saidsignatures being in circular series and accompanied by inscriptionsdesignating the corresponding major and relative minor keyssubstantially as set forth.

6. In a musical key and transposition guide the combination of thecircular signature sections the circular indicator or pointersection andthe accidental section concentric with and fixed to the signaturesection and arranged on the opposite side of the pointer section fromthe signature section substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. In a musical key and transposition guidethecombinationwiththesignature section provided with the signatures ofthe several keys and the designations of the major and minor keyscorresponding to said signatures, and the accidental section fixed withrelation to the signature section and having represented thereon theaccidentals incident to the several minor keys, of the section havingpointers indicating the registered major and minor keys and a pointerindicating the accidental incident to the indicated minor keysubstantially as and for the purposes set forth.

8. In a musical key and transposition guide the combination with thebase and the opposite indicator section connected and fixed with respectto said base of the signature section supported to turn between saidindicator sections and the minor accidental sections connected to turnwith the signature section and arranged outside the indicator sectionssubstantially as set forth.

J. BENJAMIN F. SHOlVALTER.

\Vitnesses:

T. H. HEARD, KATE B. WHITooMB.

